Really glad no-one was hurt, and that gas companies put that rotten-egg smell in the gas lines!
In the 1970s we had to replace all copper tubing that was taking gas to water heaters and such with different gas flexes.
In the 1990s I replaced an incredibly beautiful, all copper gas line in a La Jolla home that had been built by a contractor. Not only was it copper, but it was the thickest, inch and a quarter pipe with heavy fittings. I tried to find out the story of, why copper, and what I settled on was that the odor additive that was started in the 30s or 40s caused a reaction inside of copper, and that is why copper is no longer allowed, but was OK at one time.